Acton Institute

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The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty (founded 1990) is a Classical Liberal think tank, part of the Atlas Economic Research Foundation network, which promotes laissez-faire economics and public policy within a Christian framework. According to its website, the Acton Institute's goal is "to promote a free and virtuous society characterized by individual liberty and sustained by religious principles."[1] It is an associate member of the State Policy Network (SPN).

Mission and Positions

The Acton Institute "seeks to articulate a vision of society that is both free and virtuous, the end of which is human flourishing."[2]

The group is both pro-religious and pro-market. Director of Research Samuel Gregg said in an interview with the National Catholic Register that "both the Church and the world of economics certainly need each other. The Church needs to take seriously the insights of economics, especially when it comes to addressing poverty, while economics as a discipline needs people to remind it of all the moral and spiritual realities that don’t fit well into the models employed by most mainstream economists."[3]

Activities

The Acton Institute hosts an annual four-day conference known as "Acton University" in Grand Rapids, MI, where it is based.[4]

Acton also provides grants of a few thousand dollars each to "to enhance the effectiveness in the teaching and scholarship of market economics for business and economics faculty at Christian colleges, universities and seminaries across the United States and Canada."[5]

News and Controversies

Tax-Exempt Status Rejected

In March 2014, the city of Grand Rapids, MI denied tax exempt status to the Acton Institute, after it spent a reported $7 million moving its offices to Grand Rapids. The Institute is expected to owe about $91,000 in property taxes for 2014. A letter sent by the city rejecting the Institute's application for tax-exempt status stated that "the entity does not meet non-profit charitable requirements according to case law."[6] Interviewed by the Grand Rapids Press, Grand Rapids City Assessor Scott Engerson further explained, “Most people think that if they’re a tax-exempt 501(c)3 they’re exempt from property tax, and that’s not the case in Michigan...In regard to Acton, it’s the charitable piece that the city was not able to definitively conclude.”[6]

Opposition to Pope Francis

The Acton Institute's strong support for both Catholicism and free market economics has come under strain as Pope Francis has actively criticized global inequality and unfettered capitalism. In May 2014, the Pope's Twitter account posted a tweet saying "Inequality is the root of all evil." Joe Carter, a senior editor at Acton, tweeted in reply, “Seriously, though, what was up with that tweet by @Pontifex? Has he traded the writings of Peter and Paul for Piketty?”, referring to economist Thomas Piketty, author of the 2014 book Capital in the 21st Century, a critique of growing economic inequality.[7]

Support for GMOs

In November 2014, in a Thanksgiving-themed blog post, Bruce Edward Walker (an Acton Institute freelancer[8] who was managing editor of the Heartland Institute's InfoTech & Telecom News from 2010 to 2012[9] and science editor of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy's MichiganScience and communications manager for its Property Rights Network from 2006 to 2010)[10] wrote that, "if not for genetically modified organisms, many of us wouldn’t be celebrating Thanksgiving in the traditional sense" and "GMOs are making tremendous strides when it comes to feeding the world not only on a day set aside for acknowledging our thanks for our food, but as well the remaining 364 days of the year.... The increasing capability of GMOs to feed the world -- safely, cost-effectively and environmentally sound -- is something to be truly thankful for." The article criticized the environmental advocacy organization As You Sow for its campaign to label GMOs.[11][12]